on the phone i heard her telling her grandmother that she was the luckiest kid in the world. closing arguments, after six weeks of often bizarre testimony, the jury should finally get to decide the fate of casey anthony starting today. debt debate, congress will keep trying to reach a deal on raising the debt limit, but there may be another way to get the job done. and oil spill, thousands of gallon gallons foul the yellow stone river. how bad is the environmental damage. captioning funded by cbs good morning, everyone, on this independence day. good to see you. i'm terrell brown in for betty

nguyen. there will be no independence day holiday for jurors or anyone else at the casey anthony trial for anyone else. there were fireworks yesterday, the judge had to stop for -- >> i assume you were all professionals. i'm beginning to see that orders or anything else may not mean a hill of a bean to any of you. >> so the jury will be back in court this morning, and prosecutors will get one last shot closing arguments by the defense. karen brown reports. >> reporter: casey anthony's defense spent its final hours in front of the jury trying to convince them there is not enough evidence to convict her of murder. >> the reason you don't have that evidence that they're desperately trying to find is

because it's an unprovable case. >> reporter: they tried to discredit the charge she tried to suffocate her 2-year-old daughter. then they tried to pinpoint her father. they were not allowed to bring up allegations that he molested his daughter as an explanation of her bizarre behavior because the judge ruled they've failed to prove it. >> i don't think anybody here can justify her actions, but they do not constitute murder. >> reporter: many on the jury appeared tired as the day wore on. they've been sequestered for six weeks and finally expected to begin deliberating on monday. first the prosecution will have the final word with their rebuttal to the defense. prosecutors have already detailed how casey anthony spent the month following caylee's disappearance lying and partying with her new boyfriend.

>> we can only hope that the chloroform was used before the tape was applied so that caylee went peacefully. >> reporter: the prosecution claims anthony killed her daughter because she did not want to be a mom. the defense believes she's an imperfect mother who's wrongly accused. soon the jury will decide. karen brown, cbs news, orlando, florida. politics now, and the battle over the debt ceiling. the senate will be back in session tomorrow trying to hammer out a deal to raise america's borrowing limit by august 2nd. with republicans and democrats in a stalemate, a completely different option is being discussed. whit johnson has more. >> reporter: three weeks ago when courtney hinton was asked in a cbs news poll how she thought congress should raise the debt ceiling she along with 69% of respondents said no. now amid fears of a looming crisis she isn't so sure. >> i think people don't

understand it. you really have to pay attention to get what it means. >> reporter: what it means according to the bipartisan policy center is come early august the treasury would only have enough money to pay about 56% of its bills. former treasury official jay powell says the government would likely pay interest first, leaving popular domestic programs in jeopardy. >> it could be social security, could be medicare, could be medicaid. we can't pay everything. >> reporter: the stalemate has some asking if president obama can order the treasury to keep borrowing. there's a little known section in the 14th amendment saying the public finance of the united states shall not be questioned. >> the president must act in order to follow the command of the constitution. >> reporter: the idea highlights how desperate it has gotten. >> it's crazy talk.

it's not acceptable for the congress and the president not to do their job. >> reporter: americans like courtney hinton can only watch in disbelief. >> this bickering and waiting until the last minute, we're not benefiting from that. >> reporter: as washington returns from the holiday weekend, sources close to the negotiations say a deal has to be reached by july 22nd in order to get it through congress in time. whit johnson, cbs news, the white house. meanwhile three u.s. senators are in afghanistan this morning, john mccain, joe lieberman and lindsey graham, they say they're worried president obama's plan to draw down u.s. troops could help the insurgents. joel brown is in washington on that. happy fourth of july to you. >> happy independence day to you. the senators believe too many afghans see president obama's plan for a drawdown see this as a sign the u.s. is quitting on afghanistan. key senators are raising doubts

about president obama's withdrawal plan for afghanistan. >> it is an unnecessary risk. >> i really do worry this may have undercut the momentum. i hope i'm wrong. >> reporter: in kabul republican senators john mccain and lindsey graham called the strategy too risky and say it could put american troops and the plan in jeopardy. the plan calls for pulling out 10,000 troops by the end of this year with another 23,000 gone by the end of next summer. >> i hope that it will work out but it is certainly deprives us of the necessary troops that we need for the second fighting season. >> the obama administration is standing by its plan saying successes on the ground especially the killing of osama bin laden have made it possible. >> al qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11. >> reporter: still this deadly taliban raid on a hotel in kabul last week shows insurgents aren't willing to go quietly.

>> if we don't succeed here and the taliban comes back into power we'll be attacked again. >> reporter: while the debate continues, american troops are carrying on with their mission preparing to hand over security back to the afghan people, the drawdown is set to begin this month. terrell, some initial diplomatic moves have been made to jumpstart peace talks with the taliban but on his trip senator mccain saw no signs whatsoever the taliban is ready to talk peace. >> joel brown in washington thank you so much. overseas, thailand elected its first ever female prime minister by a landslide, comes from a political family, her brother was once prime minister but ousted in a military coup in 2006. the country will go along with the election results. peace activists plan to sail from greece today even though the greek government banned their ships from going to gaza. protests at the israeli embassy

in athens. last year nine activists when israeli marines stormed a palestinian flotilla. back in this country crews are trying to clean up an oil spill in montana. an exxon spill, 100 miles downstream. the company says about 42,000 gallons got into the river before the pipeline was shut down. >> most of the soiled area seems to be in the first five to ten miles. we find at this point very little soiling but there is still some pockets we will have to deal with beyond billings. >> before the spill the government issued warnings to exxon mobil about safety violations on the pipeline. severe thunderstorms knocked out power to thousands in northern virginia. strong winds, heavy rains and lightning brought trees down on power lines and damaged some homes. thousands of residence in los alamos, new mexico, are back

home this morning, forced to evacuate last week by a wildfire that burned 189 square miles. that fire is now 19% contained this morning and no longer a threat to the town that's held a nearby nuclear lab. budgetary problems threaten popular state parks from coast to coast and the royal newlyweds continue their tour of canada with a stop in california to come. first scott pelley has a preview of tonight's "cbs evening news." >> millions take a drug to help quit smoking but now there's concerns about potentially dangerous side effects. we'll explain tonight on the "cbs evening news." with breakthhydraiq. hour absorbs in seconds. lasts for hours. express hydration with hydraiq. nivea.

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wishers, later this week wrap up their 11-day tour in southern california. ase stock markets picked up today where they left on friday with solid gains. the nikkei was up almost 1%, hong kong's hang seng rose almost 1.5%. this week wall street's closed for the holiday. they'll get an update on how america's factories are doing. americans celebrate independence day in lots of different ways. one of the many for families is a trip to a nearby state park. several states have budget problems these days and money for parks is often among the first things cut. kendis gibson reports. >> reporter: for the past decade brian, julianne and their kids have been coming to mcgrath beach but this may be their last trip here. it is set to close in november. do you feel you're losing a family member? >> we do. i feel safe here. it's great for families.

>> reporter: amid the pristine beauty of california's state parks there is an ugly reality, finances. they've seen their budgets cut by 43% since 2003 and cash-strapped california is shutting down 70 of its 278 state parks to save money. the closures are first for california, and another devastating blow to its park system. state parks ranger eric delstrom could only hire four workers instead of 12 to handle mans nans and repairs at four of its parks. >> it's frustrating to keep the doors open, lights on and keep water and sewer working and starting to catch up to us. >> reporter: california isn't alone. minnesota closed all of its state parks this holiday weekend because lawmakers failed to reach a new budget. in washington state, they're not closing but they're charging. $10 where it used to be free. squeezing its park system, california hopes to save $33

million, but for these families, it's a high price to pay, losing their favorite campground on the pacific. kendis gibson, cbs news, oxnard, california. coming up, we'll have your weather on this monday morning and in sports, a big upset and emotional new champion at wimbledon. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪

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in some cities around the country. in inning income, partly cloudy and 91 degrees. 89 and partly cloudy in miami. 85 and sunny in chicago. 101 degrees and sunny in dallas and los angeles partly cloudy and 85. time for a check of your national forecast. latest satellite picture shows clear skies on the west coast. thunderstorms are forming over the southwest and a few patches of showers and storms are slowly moving across the mid-atlantic states. a large cluster of storms is passing to the northern plains. later today expect temperatures in the 90s and 100s across the south with a few later on afternoon thunderstorms bringing cooler rains, it will be warm and muggy in the northeast. severe thunderstorms will blast the northern plains bringing a chance of strong gusts of wind and heavy rains. heat is moving up the west coast to northern california. in sports, novak djokovic of serbia is the new men's champion at wimbledon. in the fourth set he served for the match and rafael nadal's second volley went long.

djokovic fell to the ground and spoke later about how much that victory meant to him. >> best day of my life, most special day of my life. this is my favorite tournament, the tournament i always dreamed of winning, the first tennis tournament i ever watched in my life, i think i'm still sleeping and still having my dream, but really, i mean, thank you all. thank you all for coming and making this day special. >> with that trophy in hand, djokovic becomes the world's top ranked tennis player. in baseball, extra inning subway series. bases loaded two outs bottom of the ten, mets jason bay singled to right center gives the mets the comeback win over the yankees 3-2. in denver melke xwre ka tie it is, kansas city 16, colorado 8. coming up on the "morning

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on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. mother nature will deal out some fourth of july fireworks with severe storms forming in the northern plains and northwest. hot in the southeast with a few scattered storms. here's a look at this morning's top stories in a rare fourth of july court session prosecutors will finish closing arguments in the casey anthony murder case in florida and at least it goes to the jury. cleanup is under way for montana's yellow stone river after a spill from the exxon mobil pipeline. oil has been spotted 40 miles

down river. some reports say 100 miles. america's oldest army medic is hard at work during another tour of duty in afghanistan. as mandy carp reports he's a lot older than the ones he treats. >> reporter: in afghanistan back from the fighting the men and women of the u.s. military have tough jobs and the medical problems to match. >> this one started today. >> reporter: an experienced eye makes all the difference and few are more experienced than dr. i don't know burston, at age 76 he may not bring it all but he brings a lot of history to his work at this military clinic in kabul. >> they're not sure if i'm a father figure or grandfather figure. >> reporter: what does he take with his experience? >> i carry an appreciation for the incredible sacrifice i see among the young people here.

>> reporter: dr. burston is a volunteer with the reserves, his fourth tour since 2005, two in iraq, two in afghanistan. he joined the army in 1955. he was out of uniform for 26 years and says the nature of war has changed dramatically in this time. >> this is a complicated war and we're in a situation where troops communicate with home every day. >> reporter: he says this may be his last tour but really not so sure, hinting in two years' time he will have forgotten the hardships and will be ready to jump back in. by then he'll be close to 80 years old. mandy clarke, cbs news, kabul. here in new york this weekend police get the fourth of july holiday off to an explosive start. that would be more than 2 1/2 tons of illegal fireworks destroyed by the police bomb squad.

police arrested 70 people with illegal fireworks. this morning on "the early show" with a year half hour, a look back and a look forward at the year's economy. i'm terrell brown. this is the "cbs morning news."

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good morning. happy 4th of july. >> welcome to 9 news now. welcome to the 4th of july, we are hoping for the best

tonight. >> i think there's an outside chance of a lingering storm this evening. for the majority of us, the parades this afternoon should be good. tonight, again, most of us will be in good shape. here's a look at 49th of july independence day forecast. we will just pass through this morning since a lot of folks are sleeping. 88, 5:00, 90. highs in the low 90s. isolated storm at worst. better chance south of washington. 9:00 p.m. temperature, 83 degrees. consider that out and about for the fireworkses. we had fireworks last night thanks to mother nature. a lot of trees down on the g.w. parkway. they produced heavy storms yesterday, but offshore norfolk there, we are down significantly. down to 66 in gaithersburg. everyone else in the lower 70s. a touch of fog here and there.

all in all a relatively quiet morning. that's the way we like it. angie is off this morning. >> we are going to the outer loop in maryland. everything is looking good. the belt way. no problems. camera over to 95 northbound in virginia, no problems all the way to the mixer ball. andre and jessica, over to you. >> thank you. today is the 235th anniversary of america's independence. there's celebrations planned for every community across the nation. >> in dc it means the annual 4 4th of july celebration on the national mall. this year's concert has singers like matthew morrison, and a performance by steve martin and his band, the steve canyon

rangers. four families in the pepworth eyewitness news are -- pepworth neighborhood are trying to recover after a fire made their homes unbelievable. >> that's not the worst for one family. >> that's my childhood. >> reporter: his whole life spent in a house now torched. >> i lost everything, my clothes, my underwear, and now i won't have my shirt and shoes on that i barely found. >> reporter: kevin kampos says to return today is almost too much for his family to bare. >> we are just picking out valuables. >> reporter: valuables like photographs. his mom shows us one picture of her mom and dad that is any awning monk the handful they managed to save. there's no saving the antiques for elsalvador that his aunt keeps upstairs. >> she's sad and she always cries.

>> reporter: the fire started in the back of one of the houses. you tell because the damage is extensive. four families were displaced total including nine people who lived with kevin. >> nine were living here. >> reporter: most were home when the fire started friday evening. >> it was like over here like fire crackers outside. my mom opened the door, and almost 2 feet of fire almost hit her face. >> reporter: loved ones scrambled while the firefighters fought the blaze. >> i went upstairs and grabbed important things like the green card and the stuff from the house. >> reporter: the only relief, the family does have insurance. they are right now in a hotel until they can find temporary housing for the next 8 to 9 months. brittany morehouse. good morning and welcome to 9 news now. today is july 4th. happy holiday. hope you're enjoying